Russia’s Central Bank raised its key rate by a full percentage point to 9.5% on Friday in its latest attempt to tame surging inflation, bringing borrowing costs to their highest level in five years.
This is the second time in a row the regulator has made the rare move of hiking the rate by a full point, and the eighth consecutive rise.
The Central Bank’s aggressive attempt to bring down consumer costs followed an 8.7% year-on-year increase in inflation in January. Food costs grew from a 10.6% year-on-year increase in December 2021 to 11.1% in January 2022, while services and non-food items accelerated from 4.98% to 5.38% and from 8.58% to 8.73% respectively.
This story is being updated.